I have a 2002 v6 4x2. I have a different rear end than you guys do. I have 40,000 miles on it and have not had the first problem out of it. Until yesterday!!!!!! I have had many Ford and Chevrolet company trucks. You know, drive it like you stole it. Anyway, the Fords always have less problems and also last longer. That is the reason I bought the Explorer. As best as I can figure, you guys have not figured out the problem and neither has Ford. There must be something the Ford cheaped out on in the rear ends of these. I am taking mine to the local Ford dealership on Mon. morning and probably only to get the run around. I'll keep you guys posted on the latest jerk around.

 

i brought mine in on Tuesday Morning and Ford still has the car..they are waiting on the rear differential to come in. They are replacing the whole thing, with what they say is a redesigned one.

 

bcjim-

My '02 does the exact same thing. It whines only when the go pedal is pressed.
'02, 4x4, 4.0L, 3.55 open, 31000 mi

I duno, seams strange. I just wish it wasn't such a pain in the **** to drop it off at the dealer, wait for them to get around to it, and then for them to say its normal, could not duplicate the problem.

 

you should get it in before your warrenty runs out

 

02Ex-
You might also consider an extended warranty if they wont do anything, I know they are expensive but so are drivetrains..or if you arent planning on keeping it forever, maybe unload it now...

 

It has the 65,000, 6 yr powertrain waranty. I am going to drop it off at the dealer tomorrow after work and will let you know what they say. I will be trying a different dealer than I have been so hopefully this will get resolved. Besides going armed with the above listed TSB's, is there anyhting else I should go in with?

 

I have an early '03 with 6K miles, wife's truck, and it has no noise yet. It mainly sets in the garage, mistake to buy it I guess. Seems like she would rather drive the Jeep. Even if the noise is not a safety issue I would be concern about resale value of a vehicle with a noisey rear end. How would you ever sell a late model car with a noisey rear end without taking a beating? Just my thoughts,
ray

 

there is no guarentee that you will get the noise raytasch, remember this site is usually for people posting with problems, the people without problems will never post how much they love the car with no problems. All cars have problems, its just the service department to hold to their own and serve you or bs you about things.

 

Does anyone have the parts list for all that is needed to replace the affected parts?

Have a friend with an '02 Mountianeer way past warranty and we're looking at non-dealer options.

Thanks in advance.

 

just got a call today from ford service manager and the parts arent going to be in until the 18th so i can pick up my car....he said that ford isn't just taking the parts off the assembly line, they want to build new one for my explorer. So looks like it wont get fixed to the last week or so of june but it sounds promising not to come back.

 

Hey all... new to the forum, a lot of good info. Too much to digest at times.
I have an 03 Expl 4WD that also has the hum at 50-55 while maintaining or accelerating speed. The hum started at 2k miles. Waited to see what more might come about before servicing.

I also have the front end hop/shudder that "tvulcan" refers to. Much like being in 4WD and turning, yet it's off. It also happens more while turning to the right.

Now to top it off (on dry, even pavement) it now started to flash the 4WD high and low dash light at the same time in a series of three blinks. No idea what that was all about. Wife pulled over put it into 4WH and rolled it a bit then turned it back to Auto4W and it went away. Any ideas, haven't found a post on this so far?

Needless to say it's time to get this looked at. A bit to much for a new vehicle w/ 10k on it.

Taking it to the dealer tomorrow, will post a follow-up after I get it back/diagnosed. Maybe get some extra insight from the dealer for the thread.

 

Quick update--

Took the X in last Wed. on the 9th. Talked to them on Friday and the explorer will be getting a new rear end. Thats all the details that I have now, parts are suposed to be in sometime this week.
Stay tuned......

 

Got an answer back.....
Dealer says order a new rear diff., saw that coming from all the previous posts, (different than orig, newer engineering? wasn't sure, just new something was different, so he was told) per Ford. Ford also memo-ed early on to dealers that they should "not attempt to fix this." They'd only make it worse. Per some internal bullitien, not a TSB, something like a MSB maybe, can't remember what he called it. It was something that Ford was working on to find a fix.... and didn't want dealers servicing it until they researched it, is how it was presented to me. It has close tollerances and high friction lube and other crud etc.

The supposed noise/whine at certain speeds was gear noise and if it were a "steel housing, instead of alum., you'd never hear it", so I was told. Think this was more the dealer perspective. Also believes that it is the root of my vibrations in the front end. Not sure how that works but I'll wait to see. I inquired about this becoming a recall for defective parts or potential problems later on. Nope, squeeky wheel gets the grease type of fix. Other than that, will need to wait and see how things progress.

Will follow up after servicing and road tests.

 

Have the rearend whine on 2002 explorer .ford will be replacing rear differential and drive shaft with new updated version.hope this does it .

 

Hi guys,

Does this problem only affect 2002 Explorers? And, does it affect all the different rear ends offered?

The reason I ask is, my 94 has 205,000 miles and I want to upgrade after it hits 300,000.

Mike